Life Sciences & Healthcare

These are challenging times for the life sciences and healthcare sector. Both are undergoing a period of intense transformation, facing an ever-increasing level of regulation and having to manage costs in order to remain competitive and maintain profitability.

The firm’s Life Sciences and Healthcare group is top ranked for patent litigation, corporate, venture capital and licensing work, in addition to having strong healthcare infrastructure and services expertise. Because we act for clients across the full industry-wide spectrum from biotechnology to healthcare, we are able to spot emerging trends and see the bigger picture.

Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies operating internationally are increasingly embroiled in complex multijurisdictional patent litigation. With 35 patent law specialists, our patent litigation team is one of the strongest and best known in Europe. This means we have extensive experience of co-ordinating highly technical parallel actions in multiple jurisdictions and are able to develop innovative strategies, specifically designed to manage such complex litigation.

Life Sciences is one of the most innovative and fast-changing market sectors. It is also one of the most regulated, as pharmaceutical and medical device companies face increased scrutiny from regulators and increasing pricing pressure. We can advise on the full spectrum of regulatory issues, from clinical trial regulation through marketing authorisation applications to post-marketing promotion. We also have expertise in devising novel strategies for challenging regulatory decisions.

Our Life Sciences clients range from multinational pharmaceutical companies to Stock Exchange listed venture capital backed companies. They also include developers and manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics and chemicals. The team is involved in five key areas: patent litigation, regulatory, venture capital, licensing and partnering and corporate.

In many ways, both government and private healthcare institutions are facing the same issues as other private sector businesses and both are having to adapt. They need to reduce costs, align their business processes, increase their productivity and operational efficiencies and ultimately keep clients and customers satisfied. Our expertise, know-how and flair enable us to devise commercial and practical solutions to these issues.

Many organisations are looking to deliver healthcare services in new markets around the world, resulting in a number of joint ventures and strategic alliances. Our in-depth expertise and international reach enables us to excel in devising innovative forms of funding and contract structures that are highly successful for our clients.

How to fund costly hospital infrastructure and equipment (and who pays for it) is an ongoing issue. We invest a great deal of time and effort in devising alternative and ground-breaking funding models, including Managed Equipment Services, that solve these and other financing problems.

The work of our healthcare specialists includes all aspects of transactions for the design, construction and maintenance of new and existing healthcare infrastructure. We advise public authorities, investors, developers and financiers of major hospitals, as well as specialist equipment providers and clinical and non-clinical service providers.